Mike Trout: The day he was intentionally walked with the bases loaded

During a 2008 playoff game against Cherry Hill East, Millville's Mike Trout was intentionally walked with the bases loaded. The gutsy strategy worked as the Thunderbolts lost to Cherry Hill East.(Photo: File photo)

However, Collins almost didn’t give Trout the opportunity to swing the bat.

“The first thought is, I’d almost try to walk this guy (rather) that pitch to him,” Collins said after the game.

An intentional walk with the bases loaded — the highest form of respect a manager could show to a hitter, and Trout had Collins thinking about it.

Ironically, almost nine years to the day before that, before Trout started crushing baseballs into the sport’s Mount Rushmore, carving his face among the game’s all-time greats, he had another manager in that exact position.

On May 23, 2008, Millville High School was hosting Cherry Hill East in the South Jersey Group 4 quarterfinals, and Cougars coach Erik Radbill entered the game with one simple strategy – don’t let Trout beat us.

So Radbill intentionally walked the junior leadoff hitter three times that day – including once with the bases loaded. The plan worked, as East upset the Thunderbolts 11-5.

Radbill didn’t know Trout would become the player he’s turned into, but his ascension has made his decision “folklore,” as he puts it.

As the 10-year anniversary of that day approaches, those involved with that game reflect on the strange-but-true moment.

Eastern baseball takes over sole possession of first place in the Olympic American with a 4-3 win over Shawnee
Josh Friedman, @JFriedman57

Radbill: “We knew he was by far the best player (in South Jersey). Was he this generational Major League baseball player? No, but he was by far the best player in the area bar none, that was the first thing. The second thing is if you know the field that is Millville, it is a short porch all the way around.”

Radbill: “At the time (assistant coach Dan McMaster, now the head coach at Cherry Hill West, and I) were meeting (in the leadup to the game), we didn’t say we’re going to walk him every time even if the bases are loaded, but we were saying look, if we want to move on we can’t let Mike Trout beat us, so we had talked that over and that’s what it came down to, let’s just walk him every single time he comes up. That’s what we said we’re going to do.”

Roy Hallenbeck, Millville baseball coach: “We’re very close with Erik Radbill at Cherry Hill East. … He’d seen Mike enough and he was one of the guys that respected Mike more than anybody.”

Mike Edwards, former Millville assistant, current Mainland assistant: “He was so electric, even as a junior. He did things on a baseball field that you hadn’t seen up to that point and really, quite honestly, you really haven’t seen afterward. He was different.”

Cherry Hill East took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the Thunderbolts had made it a 3-1 game in the second and brought Trout up with the bases full.

Radbill: “Dan’s kneeling right beside me and the second it happened he’s like, ‘Rad, don’t forget what we talked about.’ … He had to like tap me on the shoulder and I was like you’re right man, uh, excuse me (to the ump), sir, sir, and we had to get his attention like three or four times.”

McMaster: “The fans were all over us, booing and screaming, but we wanted to put our team in the best position to win.”

Edwards: “It upset some people in the stands, but me, Roy and Kenny (Williams), we sat there and said, we’d probably do the same thing. From a competitive standpoint, it made a ton of sense.”

Radbill: “(Trout’s) mom was on the fence, shaking the thing.”

Debbie Trout, Mike’s mom: “I don’t remember shaking the fence. I do remember saying like, I can’t believe it. As a mom, you just, you don’t know what the strategy of other coaches is, but honestly, we were upset they were going to walk him, and of course I wanted him to get a grand slam, not one RBI. I’m selfish, but as years have gone by, I understand it totally. … I didn’t before. I was pretty upset about the whole situation.”

Hallenbeck: “The last thing we wanted was that walk. So when you decide to put him on we’re like, that’s going to kill us. That indicates he made the right move because he did exactly what we didn’t want to happen.”

Edwards: “Efren Fernandez was the hitter behind him, played third base and he was a tremendous player in his own right, all-conference player, and I remember (Trout) said (to me at first base), I hope Ef gets him. That was the mindset. I hope we make him pay. Mike knew he had the respect of his opponents, but there weren’t many people in the park that wanted it more than he did.”

McMaster: “One thing I do remember and I still talk about to this day, I’m actually a scout for the Phillies, it’s a very low-level scout. … Trout came to a workout (at Citizens Bank Park) and when he walked in and I shook his hand, he said you’re the coach from Cherry Hill East that walked me, and I laughed and I kind of apologized and he laughed and said don’t worry, that was the right move and it worked out.”

Radbill: “We play in the American Division, Olympic Conference. We see Division-I players all the time. We’ve played against Billy Rowell (Bishop Eustace) here a couple times, he was the (ninth pick) overall in the (2006) Draft (to the Orioles), and just no, never (have I considered that with anyone else). And I’m telling you, it had half to do with Trout and half to do with the bandbox they played in. We probably wouldn’t have walked him with the bases loaded out here (at Cherry Hill East). Well, I shouldn’t say that, we might’ve. But maybe we think about it a little more. ... (The next year) he hit a dead center-field home run here (at Cherry Hill East).”

Hallenbeck: “In hindsight, knowing what he is now, looking back, it’s kind of funny, every season that goes by, Erik gets a lot smarter for having done that. As Mike solidifies his hold on greatest player in the world, I think Radbill can sit back and say I was right.”

Radbill: “I’d be lying if I told you it wasn’t a cool thing that happened.”

Debbie Trout: “Even more crazy now is when (the Angels) first got Albert (Pujols, who recorded his 3,000th career hit on Friday) on their team, with them walking Mike to get to Albert just blew my mind, just blew my mind, I’m not kidding you. So it’s like, as the years have gone on of course, you start to realize what the coaches are doing.”

Radbill: “The fact remains he was by far the best player we’d ever seen, no question about it.”